One of the hot button topics - not to mention a source of confusion - when it comes to Microsoft Dynamics NAV is product licensing. That's according to feedback from members of NAVUG speaking at a recent webcast. To help clear things up, several partners offered their input on licensing basics. Customers should understand their options, partners advised, because the optimal approach to licensing your Dynamics NAV solution may not be the most obvious. Microsoft has worked to...

More and more customers are attracted to the cloud for its intuitive, easy-to-adopt design. CIOs are more eager than ever to adopt such solutions, with 70 percent mapping out a cloud-centric IT strategy for 2016 according to IDC's Cloud Services: Global Overview . And in turn, solution providers, VARs, and ISVs are evolving their solutions that have traditionally been deployed on-premise. It's no surprise that prioritizing the cloud adds to a brand's value proposition - IDC found that...

Implementing a business intelligence environment against data you don't trust?  Sounds counter-intuitive, some would say: ‘just plain wrong.'  How could you possibly build a data warehouse and cubes on data that might not be accurate?  You shouldn't of course, and that is the point. Accurate data is the non-negotiable cornerstone of any BI effort.  But accurate data does not happen by itself.  Data needs to be enthusiastically governed to a state of truth and reliability...

Attendees and exhibitors at last week's Convergence 2014 Europe event described it as worthwhile, but with room for improvements in terms of content and scale. It's still uncertain whether a 2015 European Convergence is in the works. Microsoft did not announce anything before the end of last week's event and a spokesperson had no comment on whether they have committed to a 2015 event.  But last week's Barcelona event reportedly achieved one of its key goals - attracting a larger...

Quentin Clark's run as CVP of strategy for Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) ended almost as quickly as it began, it seems. SAP announced earlier this week that  Clark has been hired as SAP's new Chief Technology Officer , effective November 10, 2014. According to an SAP news release, Clark's role includes serving as "SAP's technology ambassador," where he will drive direction and vision of SAP's future technology and shape SAP's brand. With his...

Avalara Inc. , a provider of provider of sales tax and compliance automation services in the cloud, has raised $100 million in a financing round from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm. Avalara offers hundreds of pre-built connectors into accounting, ERP, ecommerce and other business applications, including Microsoft Dynamics ERP. The company's AvaTax connects with Dynamics GP, AX, and NAV to deliver a sales tax automation tool to automate sales tax compliance...

Concerto Cloud Services has rolled out a new "premium" cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offering that it aims to differentiate from the enterprise grade services that, the company believes, are competing largely on price. The new offering aims to appeal to the enterprise demand for hybrid solutions delivered in a smaller, more protected private environment. Built on scalable single-tenant pods, the solution offers improved security, reliability and performance, the company...

Earlier this week, Microsoft Technical Fellow Mike Ehrenberg took the stage at Convergence 2014 Europe to demonstrate Microsoft's approach to predictive analytics in Dynamics AX , including the use of Azure Machine Learning to drive decision making in AX ‘7', the upcoming major release. But there are a range of technical product advances at Microsoft that will also shape the future of Dynamics ERP and CRM. As the company reshapes itself under the renewed "One Microsoft" banner...

Wasn't it Hamlet who once said, "To cloud, or not to cloud...that is the question". No? Maybe that's not exactly right, but one thing is for sure: deciding whether to install a Microsoft Dynamics ERP solution locally on your own server or host it in the cloud can have a major impact on your organization's long term operations. And just like any major business decision, each option has pros and cons that must be considered prior to purchase. To help with this decision, we've put together a...

In this week's Microsoft Dynamics partner news roundup: UK Healthcare Provider Goes Live with Dynamics NAV Systems Limited to Implement Dynamics AX for BSi Steel in Africa SaaSplaza Opens Munich Office; Arke Systems Taps Margaret Wise to Focus on Dynamics Practice; UK Healthcare Provider Goes Live with Dynamics NAV UK community healthcare provider, Nottingham CityCare Partnership's (CityCare) finance department has gone live on a new integrated ERP & accounting...